Google Chrome's "Tab Declutter" will get rid of useless tabs

Google is working on an option to make web browsing less chaotic for Chrome app users who tend to open hundreds of tabs. Called Tab Declutter, it promises to become quite a useful tool once it’s available.

The first hints about the Tab Declutter feature for Chrome surfaced in late March. Now, new findings suggest that it’s closer than ever and even reveal some additional details about how it works. Currently, Tab Declutter is in development for the Chrome app on Android, with no details about a potential port for the desktop version. It’s also unknown if it will be available on the iOS app.

Google Chrome app to get an option to prevent chaotic accumulation of tabs

The Tab Declutter goal is to act on the hundreds of inactive tabs that many users even forget they have open in Chrome. It’s an auto-archiving tool to help you free up memory and clean up the UI. First, it will archive open tabs that you haven’t visited in 7 days. Then, archived tabs that you haven’t visited after 60 days will be automatically closed.

Users will be able to tweak the auto-archiving and closing tab settings. This way, they’ll have more control over how the tool works. Also, as spotted by MSPoweruser, the Tab Declutter settings will offer an option to automatically delete browsing data from archived tabs. So, it will clear cookies and cache for you, giving you some extra storage space and improving the browser’s performance.

There are quite a few users who open tabs and leave them forgotten while opening more and more tabs. Over time, that makes the experience of using Google Chrome a bit chaotic. Also, when there are hundreds of tabs, it’s a pain to go through them one by one. While there is an option to close all tabs at once, it might close useful tabs as well. However, Tab Declutter wants to help you figure out which tabs are actually useful for you and get rid of the rest.

It’s not yet known when the feature will roll out. Meanwhile, development seems to be continuing without a hitch. Hopefully, it won’t take long for Tab Declutter to be available to all Chrome users.